


The Count's Physician

by meridian_rose (meridianrose)



Category: Da Vinci's Demons
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Regency, Alternate Universe - Romance Novel, Canon Bisexual Character, Doctors & Physicians, Horseback Riding, Leonardo da Vinci M.D., M/M, Medical Kink, Period-Typical Homophobia, Regency Romance, Unconventional Courtship 2016, based on a romance novel summary, developing Riario & Lucrezia, implied Leo/Lucrezia UST, leario - Freeform, some historical handwaving, some medical handwaving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 14:51:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7176335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meridianrose/pseuds/meridian_rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Count Girolamo Riario was staying with his cousin, Lucrezia Donati, but his enjoyment of the countryside was marred when Lucrezia introduced him to the arrogant Dr Leonardo da Vinci. Then, when Riario needed Leo's professional help, he couldn’t help falling in love. But Leonardo knew, if Riario didn’t, that a count was out of his reach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Meeting

  
  


* * *

Count Girolamo Riario hated Doctor Leonardo da Vinci on sight.

Much later, he'd attribute that strength of feeling to terror at his true feelings, desires that ought not to exist and could not be easily acknowledged. At that moment however, the hazel eyes and neatly tied back brown hair aroused indignation rather than desire. The arrogant mouth, drawn into a barely respectful smile, made Riario want to backhand da Vinci with a glove.

Most of all, Lucrezia's obvious infatuation with him — barely a gentleman, no nobleman this one — gave Riario an excuse to despise the doctor before da Vinci uttered a word. Jealousy was not an emotion Riario allowed himself, and he could not have at that point recognised it as such. Irrational anger and a quickening of his pulse, were passed off as a gut reaction to finally meeting the inappropriate man Lucrezia had spoken of in such glowing terms.

Riario forced himself to make small talk; literature, the weather, the countryside. Leo responded with equally polite statements.

"I'm still settling in," Leo said. "Your cousin loves the place so much that her enthusiasm alone makes me want to adore it as much as she does."

"It is pleasant enough," Riario allowed, "a welcome diversion from city life."

A shadow passed over Leo's face and then he smiled, cheerful once more. "Perhaps you can recommend suitable diversions?"

Riario's gaze flicked to Lucrezia, who was beside herself with excitement. "I can recommend some activities that ought to be avoided." The hint of a threat hung in the air. Lucrezia scowled. Leo excused himself.

"I was sent to ensure you are not disgracing yourself or our family," Riario told Lucrezia in hushed tones when she began to berate him. "What do you know about him? What is his income?"

"Money! Is that all that is important?" Lucrezia flounced off to find a more sympathetic guest to talk to. She'd wanted to introduce Riario to the community, she said, and what she had meant was to introduce Riario to Leo, and what she had wanted was for him to endorse her affection.

What neither Riario nor Lucrezia had expected was that her introducing Riario to Leo would have planted a seed of desire.

x

Riario suspected Lucrezia was up to something when she insisted on walking with him in the garden next morning, her arm linked in his.

After her third compliment, which was two more than she'd given him in their entire lives as far as he recalled, he sighed. "Whatever you want, cousin, speak plainly."

"Why must I want something?" She turned her doe eyes on him but he was immune to that particular attempt at manipulation.

"Then you want nothing?"

Her lips drew together. They walked in silence for a while. She pulled Riario to a stop near the herb garden. One of the maids was picking rosemary while the head gardener was pulling weeds.

"Doctor da Vinci is a skilled physician," she began. Riario raised his eyes heavenward, having heard her sing the man's praises almost incessantly since he himself had arrived. If her stories of Leo's competence, heroism, and geniality became any more flamboyant he'd be hearing how Leo had raised the dead, defeated a moorland beast, and was about to be named lord of a manor built especially for him by the grateful locals.

"I care nothing for his profession," Riario said. "Or his countenance." He frowned at that, the words falling from his lips before his mind had fully comprehended them.

Lucrezia placed her hands on her hips. "Why do you dislike him so much?"

"Because you like him so much," he returned. "I know desire when I see it and you are dripping with it. Yet you have the most unsuitable taste in men. We have only narrowly avoided scandal in the past and now I hear you have been dining with the doctor, inviting gossip. I cannot condone your pursuit of him."

Tears filled her eyes. "I have had company whenever I have invited the doctor to dinner," she said. "I have not been improper."

"Old Sforza is barely competent enough to take care of himself, let alone chaperone you when he visits," Riario scoffed. "Tell me, Lucrezia, for I am puzzled, what exactly do you see in this da Vinci? At least your prior dalliances have held titles and land."

"He listens when I speak. He talks to me with deference not condescension. He sketched me and when I saw his work I had never felt so beautiful."

She gave a sniffle. Riario remained unmoved.

"He is kind in ways you could never be," she said, her voice wavering. "You are cruel and cold-hearted and you revel in it!"

With a sob she turned and fled towards the house. The maid and the gardener gave Riario disapproving looks and he glared back until they lowered their gaze. Wretched servants. They apparently adored Lucrezia and no doubt thought him as cruel as Lucrezia had claimed.

Someone had to be sensible, Riario told himself, lifting his chin and continuing his stroll around the grounds. Da Vinci was, until proven otherwise, not to be trusted. Riario had a foreign title, equivalent to an English earl, but it was still a title; Lucrezia was Lady Donati, and that made her nobility and open to the attentions of those seeking to better themselves through marriage.

Still, her words stung a little. He did not revel in being mean, only in being practically minded. He would have thought a physician might pride himself on being practical too, being used to making life and death decisions. Yet somehow Leo da Vinci was not only the foremost doctor in all of England, according to Lucrezia, but utterly charming. Not a noble, but a true gentleman with manners to shame a prince. The common people loved him too because he encouraged them to call him Leo whenever he wasn't working, refusing to demand they address him with respect — a recipe for trouble in Riario's opinion.

He had other doubts beside. If Leo was so clever, why then had he ended up in this rural locale? It was a pleasant place for a country gentleman but there were far more opportunities, especially for a younger man like Leo, in a city practice.

It was a question Riario put to Lucrezia later, when she'd calmed herself and was being cordial with him once more while they took tea. Leo had been at Cheltenham previously, she said, but was at a loss to explain his reasons for leaving.

"He never wishes to discuss it," she said. "I think something dreadful happened. Maybe he lost a patient?"

"The blessed doctor let someone die?" Riario sipped at his tea. Lucrezia scowled.

"Maybe a loved one? I asked though and he has never been married. Like you," she added, before he could mention that a man of Leo's age might have been expected to have taken a wife by now.

"So you have elaborate fantasies about his tragic past," Riario said, leaning back in his chair. "But nothing to prove who he truly is or what he might be capable of."

Lucrezia stared into her cup. "I suppose you're right," she said, which so stunned Riario he was glad he was seated. "Perhaps I have been foolish."

Not trusting her to stay away from the man however, Riario made enquires over the next few days yet everyone he spoke with adored Leo. Unlike the previous holder of his post, Leo was not afraid to get his hands dirty and help out with farm animals as well as people. He would drink tea from china cups and dance with great elegance one minute, and swig cider from mugs and show off his juggling skills another. He was all things to all people, and no-one had a bad word to say about him.

Riario acknowledged he might have been too harsh in his initial judgement. He was beginning to admire the doctor's skill in winning people over. This reluctant admiration might have been as far as his feelings about Leo developed, except a week later there was an accident that changed everything.


	2. Doctor da Vinci

All Riario wanted to do was sleep. The curtains had been drawn and the darkness was soothing. Lying down was less painful than sitting up, and a few hours rest would do much to take care of his injuries if past experience was anything to go by.

Of course Lucrezia had other ideas. She threw open the door, letting in light from the hallway, and cocked her head. "You did not want dinner. Are you hungry now?"

"No. Get out," Riario said unwillingly drawn back from the brink of sleep. There was a movement near the doorway, a maidservant hovering in the corridor.

"Doctor da Vinci is here," the woman told Lucrezia.

"Send him up," Lucrezia said, stepping into the bedroom.

"Send him away," Riario said. He was not that surprised when Lucrezia's orders were obeyed in place of his own and Leo was escorted upstairs. The servants were intent on obeying their mistress primarily, her male and more titled visiting cousin given lesser consideration.

"Your message said this was urgent," Leo said, frowning in the gloom. "What is it?"

"My cousin fell off his horse," Lucrezia said with unabashed glee.

"I did not fall," Riario retorted. "I was thrown."

Lucrezia tried to look innocent or concerned but came off looking guilty in Riario's opinion. He doubted she would dare to deliberately spook his horse but she was rather taking advantage of the chance to summon Leo. Possibly to show Riario that Leo was the hero she believed he was, or merely to admire the doctor some more. He was pretty, Riario allowed, immediately brushing the thought aside as a side effect of the fall.

"He was knocked unconscious," she confided.

"Momentarily!" Riario gritted his teeth. Damnable woman.

"Even momentarily is a bad sign," Leo said. He at least was paying some attention to Riario, because Lucrezia was babbling again as if he wasn't even in the room.

"He mostly landed on his left side," Lucrezia went on, "He couldn't walk up the stairs unaided and he made a dreadful fuss when the servants undressed him. His shoulder could be dislocated or maybe his ankle is broken?"

Must she sound so happy about his wounds! When he felt better, he was going to throttle her, Riario vowed. "Enough! I need some sleep, not some damnable leech!"

Lucrezia's lower lip trembled. "I am worried about you, Girolamo."

Riario took satisfaction from Leo being as unmoved by her false protestations of concern as he was.

"Lady Donati," Leo said. "Give us some privacy." He put one hand on her shoulder and steered her to the doorway, ignoring her protests. He closed the door, plunging them into near darkness, and let out a sigh. "She's a handful."

"I believe you have spent more time in her company of late than I have, so you must be the judge."

"And I believe she exaggerates the depth of our companionship." Leo lit the lamp. "May I ask if you object to doctors in general or to me in particular?"

"Both." More the latter, but he had never had much concern for men who spent half of their lives poking at live bodies and, when their skills failed, the other half poking at dead ones.

"Would it help if I told you that I have no designs on your cousin, no matter what she believes?"

It did, but Riario was not anxious to admit it. "She only asked you here because of her interest in you."

"I'm sure she does care for your well-being."

Riario gave a humourless laugh. "Regardless, I have no need of your services. I heal quickly." It was true, but then this had been the worst riding accident he'd ever had, and he was at least badly bruised.

Leo nodded. "I believe you. But I am here now. I may as well take a look at your injuries. With your permission of course."

With some reluctance Riario agreed. He supposed it would be an ignoble death, to perish from refusing the doctor's ministrations, if he'd been hurt worse than he thought.

"I can be very gentle," Leo said. "Let me look at that head wound."

He was tender as promised, fingers probing around the cut near Riario's temple. "What day is it?"

"What sort of question is that?"

Leo stared into his eyes. "Look up for me. And down. Pupils seem fine. Um, it's a reasonable question that you should be able to answer, even if you did hit your head. What month is it, then?"

"April."

"Good. Any nausea?"

"No."

Leo gave an encouraging smile. He took Riario's wrist, fingers pressed against his pulse point. "I'd like you to tell me what happened."

"We were out riding, Lucrezia, myself, and a servant," Riario said. "My cousin wanted to take food to a family she has appointed herself patron of, and so the servant was carrying supplies. We were on a well worn path, near a stand of trees and undergrowth when my horse reared. He showed no sign of distress beforehand and I was not prepared. He's never thrown me before. I can only guess something startled him — a grass snake, perhaps."

"A snake would startle me too. Squeeze my hand. All right. Let me see your shoulder." Leo raised, lowered, probed, and tugged at the arm and shoulder, then moved to test the elbow joint and finally the wrist. It was occasionally painful but not overly so. "No, nothing dislocated. It appears I am a better doctor than your cousin."

Riario huffed a laugh. "She is far too keen to have me be an invalid. I think she wants to have me confined to my room so she can go about her business unimpeded."

"It is a possibility," Leo agreed solemnly, humouring him. "She did mention your ankle. May I?"

Riario nodded. Leo folded back the covers and busied himself testing the left knee and ankle. "I don't believe anything is broken, just bruised. You're quite lucky."

Riario felt having been thrown at all was fairly unlucky but he didn't argue.

"You should try and rest the ankle for a while," Leo advised, "though if you are anything like as stubborn and contrary as your cousin makes you out to be, I should order you to go riding tomorrow, so that you disobey me and remain in bed."

Right now Riario was in no condition to even think of going riding. "I am contrary? Lucrezia mistakes my foibles for her own."

Leo's lips quirked before he schooled his face into a more serious mien. "Given how it seems you landed, I'd like to examine your ribs."

"Is that necessary?"

"I don't know until I look," Leo said with the barest hint of an apology in his tone.

"Very well."

Leo showed more respect for Riario's privacy than he'd anticipated, folding the bed covers back only as far as Riario's hips before drawing back the nightshirt to expose Riario's torso. He let out a low whistle. "I'll be careful but this will probably hurt a little."

Riario winced as Leo explored the area around the bruised ribs.

"Sorry," Leo said. "Does it hurt when you breathe?"

"No."

"Take a deep breath for me. And out." Leo prodded around some more, eliciting a hiss of pain. "I don't think you've actually broken anything. It's possible there's a hairline fracture but I can't be sure until the swelling goes down a little. There's also a bruise here, near the hip."

That wasn't nearly as painful when it was prodded, but Leo shook his head. "I'm concerned there could be internal haemorrhaging." He took a pillow from the other side of the bed, carefully slid it under Riario's knees. "I'm going to press on your stomach. Tell me if anything hurts."

It wasn't the first time he'd been subjected to such an examination though for some reason Riario, staring at the ceiling, found the experience rather different this time. Leo probed at four places, working clockwise, then repeated the procedure but palpating more deeply.

"Blood from an internal haemorrhage can pool low down in the abdominal cavity," Leo said, "Relax, let me make sure there's no rigidity."

Riario thought he was already relaxed, not to mention doing a decent job of being submissive and obedient in contrast to his usual demeanour. It was difficult to remain relaxed as Leo spent what must have only been seconds, but felt much longer, poking around his pelvic area. The sensation was not painful but it stirred something else deep inside him, something that Riario did not at that moment have the energy to properly reflect upon.

"I don't believe you're seriously hurt," Leo said finally. "However some injuries take time before the symptoms fully present. I'll need to check on you again in a few hours."

The extra pillow was placed back at the head of the bed. Leo smoothed down the nightshirt, avoiding any tender areas, and solicitously replaced the bedcovers. "I'm sorry but I cannot allow you any laudanum yet," he said, explaining, "I can't let you sleep too deeply let alone risk the sedative effect of any medicine until I'm certain you don't have a serious concussion."

Once left alone, Riario dozed off despite the lack of drugs. He had no sense of time passing, only that it must have done because Leo awoke him, shaking him softly before he again stared into his eyes.

"You didn't tell me your horse's name," Leo said, folding back the covers once more.

"Prince."

"That's nice. A noble name for what is surely a noble creature," Leo said, lifting the nightshirt just enough to reach beneath it, and pressing his fingers deep into Riario's lower belly. "Any pain you want to tell me about?"

"No more than before." It was surely due to his confused state that it was more pleasure than pain that Leo's touch had, and now was, provoking.

Leo replaced the covers. "All right. I'll come back again in a little while. I have a salve of my own design that will help with the bruising but I handed out the last jar earlier today. I'll bring you some soon."

Then Riario was left alone to drift off into sleep, his dreams chaotic and all featuring Leo da Vinci.

"I'm sorry," Leo said, waking him once more. "I don't like having to disturb you but if you can tell me your cousin's full name I'll be satisfied that you didn't do too much damage to your head."

"Lucrezia Caterina Donati," Riario told him.

Leo sounded surprised when he repeated, "Caterina?"

"Her mother's name."

"It was my mother's name too," Leo told him and this fact lodged in Riario's brain, a precious piece of information about the enigmatic doctor that Lucrezia probably did not know.

This time Riario was more prepared when Leo's hands explored his body and he revelled in the thorough assessment, the firm pressure of Leo's fingers against the most vulnerable part of his torso, so very close to his groin. This almost caused a problem when he inadvertently sighed in pleasure and Leo mistook it for an expression of pain.

"No," Riario quickly assured him when Leo broached the subject. "Not painful. You took me by surprise."

The lie was accepted without question.

Leo gave a sigh. "Bad news, I'm afraid. You will live." He smiled. "Your cousin may be most disappointed."

Riario hadn't expected such humour from the doctor but Leo continued to surprise and intrigue him. "No matter. Lucrezia is always finding something to be disappointed about. Does this mean you will stop bothering me?" He wasn't sure he wanted the answer to be yes.

"I shall let you rest," Leo agreed. "Breakfast will be in a few hours. Eat if you can, or at least drink as much water and tea as you can manage."

Leo had been here all night? Riario was surprised and somewhat grateful, if a little suspicious as to what Leo and Lucrezia had been up to. Nonetheless he'd developed a new respect for Leo. He appreciated Leo's requests for permission at every step, the explanations as to what he was doing and why, never being patronising or domineering.

"I'll bring the salve I promised later," Leo told him. "Lucrezia informs me there is laudanum enough in the house if you need it. I will try and come by tomorrow to check on you, but if your condition worsens — if your vision is blurry, if you vomit, or cough up blood, or you are at all concerned for any reason, I want you to send for me at once."

Riario gazed at Leo through his lowered lashes. "As you wish, Doctor da Vinci."

He surely imagined that Leo winked at him before he left the room.

x

Lucrezia herself brought the salve to his room later that day, thrusting it at Riario as it if were his fault that Leo hadn't stayed to apply it himself and thereby give her the chance to talk Leo into staying for dinner. Riario was vaguely worried that he was almost as disappointed as Lucrezia. The anticipation of seeing Leo again, of having the doctor tend his wounds with those skilful hands, had been tinged with pleasure rather than disdain, as would have previously been the case.

The next day Riario dozed in the garden, the sunshine doing more to lift his spirits then the chilly interior of the house. Leo did not visit, and when Riario mentioned this in an off-hand manner to Lucrezia, she made inquiries and found he'd been called away on an urgent medical matter elsewhere.

It was unnerving that he and Lucrezia were both sulking over dinner that evening for the same reason. The same man. Riario feared he'd hit his head harder than he'd thought. Or maybe Leo's salves were witchcraft, potions to cloud the mind and induce inappropriate desires for inappropriate pleasures and people. It might even be the reason the physician had a need to hide out in the countryside.

He'd scolded Lucrezia for harbouring ridiculous fantasies about Leo's past and now Riario was guilty of the same.

"Are you going riding tomorrow?"

Riario stirred. He had the impression it was the second time she'd asked the question. "No. I'm too sore. Besides, I'm sure da Vinci would not approve."

"Since when do you care what anyone, let alone a physician thinks?" She toyed with her glass. "Do you blame Prince for throwing you?"

"No." There was a small part of him that did, but mostly he believed what he'd told Leo, that it had been an accident.

"I thought you'd at least have gone to see him today. I've never known you not at least take him a treat," Lucrezia said.

"Tomorrow," Riario said, his tone making it clear the discussion was over.

She gave him a long look and then shrugged. The rest of the meal passed in silence and Riario took himself to bed early.

He applied the salve himself, the greasy ointment soaking quickly into his skin and soothing the aches and pains. The scent was not unpleasant, with hints of lavender and something else he could not place. The worst bruise was the one at his ribs and he saved that until last, gritting his teeth as he rubbed the salve deeply into the tender flesh. Warmth soon spread through the area, making the momentary discomfort of the salve's application worthwhile.

Riario stared at the ceiling and let his mind wander. On the cusp of sleep a preferable scenario played out, one in which Leo had been the one to apply the salve with a mixture of professional competence and genteel concern that was intoxicating.

If the salve was witchcraft then it was effective, but Riario couldn't bring himself to fight it.

x

Riario was again relaxing in the garden, a book lying unread in his lap, a glass of brandy at his elbow. He tipped his head when a shadow fell over him.

"Doctor." Finally. He'd given up hope of Leo ever returning.

"Count."

Riario shifted in his seat. "You don't have to use my title."

"You don't have to use mine." Leo moved to stand at his side. "I'm not here on official business, though I would like to ask how you're feeling."

Riario lifted one shoulder in a shrug. He hid his disappointment at Leo's neglect of him during the past few days with dismissiveness. "Better. I told you, I heal quickly."

Leo gestured to the fading bruise at Riario's temple. "Yes, I see that."

"Although…" It wasn't exactly a lie, and the thought of Leo's hands on him while he was better able to appreciate it was too enticing for Riario to ignore. "My ribs are still a little sore."

Leo glanced around, making sure they were alone. "May I? Or we could go inside."

Riario unbuttoned three of the buttons on his shirt. Leo crouched down, slipping one hand beneath the white linen. Riario stared at the cloudless sky, trying not to react to the sensation of warm gentle fingers probing his lower ribs. It wasn't entirely painless but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. Quite the opposite.

Leo drew back all too soon, and Riario was surprised that Leo took it upon himself to rebutton the shirt. "As I initially thought, they're just bruised," Leo said. "You may heal quickly, but you must expect to be sore and stiff for a few more days from such a fall. I can give you more laudanum or salve if you require."

"Thank you." Riario gestured to his brandy, determined to play the polite host. "Would you like a drink? Take a seat at least."

"I have somewhere to be shortly," Leo said. He tipped his head. "Lucrezia says you haven't been riding."

She was a gossip and he would have words with her later about it. He hid his annoyance, saying lazily, "I thought you didn't want me to."

"Lucrezia told me repeatedly before your arrival that you are a stubborn man, used to getting his own way, and impossible to reason with." Leo sighed. "I expected to have to fight more with you over taking it a little easy for a while. It worries me that it's been several days now and it worries Lucrezia too. I made this mistake once before, and I won't make it again."

Riario waited. It was his nature to give people space and enough rope to hang themselves. When Leo didn't elaborate however, Riario prompted, "Mistake?" This might be the tale behind Leo's fleeing Cheltenham.

Leo sat on the nearest chair. "I attended a gentleman once. He was older, and he loved horses, and he had quite a bad fall. He broke two ribs and dislocated his shoulder. It was some weeks before he was ready to ride again. But he refused. He was afraid to get back on the horse."

Riario listened intently. Leo stared at the ground, lost in his reverie. "He went everywhere by carriage after that, and I know he missed the feeling of freedom, the days he used to travel out of the city and spend time riding cross-country. I didn't do anything to help him overcome his fears. I tended his injuries while his body healed, but I did not do enough to soothe his mind and spirit."

Riario sipped at his brandy. "You think I am afraid." It came out as an accusation. Leo's words stung because they were another truth that Riario was denying.

"Lucrezia will not stop bothering both of us until you get back on your horse," Leo said. "If you're not ready to go far, at least take Prince around the paddock. I'm busy tomorrow, but the day after I have no plans. We could go riding together. If you would like to."

Spending time with Leo sounded delightful. Getting back in the saddle less so, but he could not let fear rule his life. Riario stared up at the sky again. "That would be acceptable."

"All right then." 

Leo left, and Riario closed his eyes, savouring the memory of the doctor's clever fingers on his body. It was ridiculous and improper but the pleasure was greater than the shame.


	3. Horse Riding

Riario had told Lucrezia that Leo was being ridiculous, that he did not need escorting on a gentle horse ride. In truth, he hadn't stopped thinking about being in Leo's presence since the offer had been made.

"I thought he was accompanying you as a friend, not escorting you like a concerned physician," Lucrezia had said.

Riario wasn't sure if she was right, or how he felt about either option.

So far the ride had gone smoothly. They were taking it slowly, a meander through the countryside in the warm afternoon sun.

"It's a beautiful day," Leo said. He kept trying to make conversation, either because he never shut up or because he was trying to keep Riario focused.

"Yes." Riario kept getting lost in his fantasies. He ought to be on his guard after the accident, or at least enjoying the time spent with Leo, and he vowed to pay more attention. "The scenery is beautiful."

"Do you miss the city?"

"On occasion," Riario said. "It has charms that rural life lacks. And you? Why did you leave Cheltenham? It's a delightful town."

A shadow crossed Leo's face. "There were reasons," he said. "I'd rather not talk about it, if you don't mind."

"Of course." The polite response left his lips without his conscious thought, yet Riario wanted to know more. He'd listened to all the gossip and rumours the local people could provide, as well as Lucrezia's romantic notions about the man, but he still knew very little about Leo. What if there was a tragic past he was running from? Or worse, a criminal past?

Riario pulled to a halt, his heart racing. Leo drew his own mount to a stop.

"What's wrong?"

"We should turn back," Riario said.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "This is where the accident happened."

"Yes." But Leo knew that didn't he? That was why he'd insisted on bringing them this way, instead of following the river as Riario had suggested earlier.

Leo gave him an encouraging smile. "It's all right. You told me yourself that you'd never been thrown before, that Prince here is a fine animal and not taken to such behaviour. It was an accident, a fluke. It won't happen again."

"You don't know that." He hated the irrational panic, despised the weakness of admitting his fears.

"It seems unlikely. I'm willing to test the hypothesis." Leo urged his horse forward. Riario followed a little way behind, fighting nausea.

They passed the undergrowth where something had spooked Prince, the path where Riario had fallen. It had rained since and there was no sign of his impact on the mud, no traces of blood on the stones. The cut to his head had healed, and the bruising was now all but gone, thanks in no small part to Leo's wonderful salve.

As they moved around the gentle curve and onto the path that would lead them back home, Riario gave a deep sigh of relief. He'd probably still feel apprehensive about that particular spot for a while, but he could now ride past it if necessary, and he was enjoying being back on his horse too much to continue forgoing that pleasure out of fear.

Leo glanced over his shoulder and beamed at him with pride and it shouldn't have warmed Riario's blood the way it did.

"Can't you tell me something about your past?" Riario pulled up alongside Leo as the path widened and then gave way to open fields. "I feel as if Lucrezia has told you everything about me while I know so little about you."

Leo considered this. "I don't know if that's true. She told me a little about you, but she rather enjoyed enumerating all your lesser qualities. How you're stubborn and arrogant and uptight."

Before Riario could take offence, Leo added, "I rather think she was exaggerating. At least a little."

Riario gave him a small smile.

Leo grinned. "What did she tell you about me?"

"That she thinks you're handsome and educated and kind to animals, and what else could a woman want," Riario said, and right now what else could a man want, because Leo exuded a love of life that made him desperate to prolong the ride.

"Maybe she was exaggerating there," Leo said softly.

"I don't think she was," Riario returned, matching Leo's tone, which was all sorts of inappropriate given how flirtatious it sounded.

Leo gave a short laugh. "All right. Something from my past; I became a doctor because I was always fascinated with anatomy," he said. "My father thought it meant I was destined to be either a murderer or a doctor, though sometimes they're the same thing in his opinion — you'd like him. He also thought that doctoring paid better and so I ought to be trained as a physician."

"And what did you want?"

Leo shrugged. "For me it was doctoring or artistry. I have always sketched things - lamb's hearts, people's hands, cross-sections of flowers. It's how I understand the world. I still draw and make notes, because there is always more to learn. I also draw portraits and landscapes but it was never truly an option, given that my father was of the opinion that being an infamous murderer was almost preferable to being an artist."

Riario understood the touch of bitterness in Leo's tone. The longing to please a father who could never be satisfied, the choices made to gain affection which never came. He didn't think he would like Leo's father any more than he liked his own.

He remembered that Leo had sketched Lucrezia, the joy it had given her. To steer his thoughts away from envy and to show he was listening, Riario asked a question.

"If you could choose again, would you do it differently?" If Leo had defied his father, followed his artistic passion, they would not be here together now and Riario found it hard to reconcile his interest in Leo with his sadness on Leo's behalf for being pushed towards his current career.

"I don't know," Leo said honestly. "I don't have any great regrets."

Not even about whatever had driven him here? Riario didn't dare press the issue though.

"Thank you," Riario said, as they drew close to the house. "It was a pleasant afternoon."

Leo nodded. "You don't hate me any longer?"

"Hate is a strong word," Riario said. "You were right that when we met, I was concerned regarding your intentions toward my cousin."

Leo laughed. "In many ways she is delightful," he said. "I could — I do care about her. But she is not the sort of person I most prefer."

"What do you prefer?" Riario held his breath.

Leo studied the sky, avoiding Riario's gaze. "Witty. Elegant. Stubborn." He glanced over at Riario, adding, before Riario could fully comprehend those qualities, "If you wish, I will come riding with you another time."

"I would like that," Riario said, careful not to show too much enthusiasm despite the frisson of excitement the offer sent through him.

Leo smiled again and Riario was in love with the broad grin and white teeth and crinkled nose. It wasn't a polite quirk of the lips, but a wholehearted smile, an unreserved expression of glee. "As I would I."

Riario watched Leo ride away and let out a long sigh.

Stubborn, Leo had said. Surely he was making some reference to Riario? But what folly that would be. How perilous to admit to such feelings.

Still, Riario had read enough novels to know that his infatuation with the doctor was turning into something deep and dangerous. It seemed he was falling in love.

x

The sensible thing given his realisation would have been to avoid Leo as much as possible. Riario blamed the unaccustomed country air and his need to get away from Lucrezia frequently for his refusing to do the sensible thing.

He hesitated outside Leo's dwelling. Just as he was about to gain some composure, get back on his horse and ride away, Leo threw the door open.

"Good morning."

"Good morning," Riario replied automatically. Further conversation failed him as he took in Leo's hair, loose at this moment and lying in delicious waves about his shoulders. That Leo wasn't wearing a shirt, let alone a jacket, but his vest alone was not helping matters.

For a physician, which wasn't a job that tended to involve hard labour, Leo had impressive arm muscles. Ones which Riario wasn't sure about the names of, but which Leo would of course know. He was stirred from his reverie by the fact that Leo was giving him the kind of smile that said "I'm being polite but you're starting to concern me."

Riario cleared his throat as well as his mind. "You should have a sign," he said.

Leo wandered past him and to the woodpile, selecting a few logs. Maybe that was where the muscles came from, chopping wood. "A sign?"

"Yes," Riario ploughed on. "On the door. I wasn't sure if you had a patient inside so I didn't want to disturb you."

Leo considered. "The idea has merit," he agreed, taking the logs inside. Riario followed. "So what can I do for you?"

So many things. Riario moistened his lips. "I thought you might like to go riding again."

He surely wasn't imagining the warmth that lit up Leo's face.

"I'd love to. Give me a few minutes to finish dressing. Please excuse my appearance," he said belatedly, reaching for a comb. "I was out late last night, attending a patient. I didn't reach my bed until dawn."

Riario failed in his attempt not to imagine Leo at his bedside. "I can come back another time," he said, hiding his disappointment with more success than at controlling his fantasies.

"No," Leo said. "I don't need much sleep anyway. A ride will clear away the cobwebs."

Riario paced the room while Leo disappeared into the bedroom to dress. A desk sat against the wall beneath the shuttered window. Medical books, a glass paperweight, and a bird skull sat on the desk along with sheets of paper. Riario noted a sketch showing a bird of prey in flight. Leo had talent in more than one area.

He ran his fingers along the back of Leo's battered chair, one of two placed alongside the desk. It surprised him that Leo had the room set up like this. The desk was not between the doctor and his patient. Leo liked informality.

A dresser filled another corner of the room, the top littered with various bottles and scientific equipment.

There was a bed of sorts against the back wall, not a leather exam table as a London physician would possess, but suitable for purpose, and covered with a clean white sheet. A painting hung on the wall behind it, a diagram of all the bones in the human body.

There was a fireplace with a small table and low stool nearby, a living area making an L shape at the left of the house. The bedroom was to the rear of the property, taking up the back right corner.

Riario was offended on Leo's behalf at the meagre quarters. A physician deserved much more than this pauper's cottage. He paused at the exam table once more and bit his lip.

"I'm ready," Leo said, reappearing with his riding jacket fully buttoned up, to Riario's disappointment.

"Are you not being paid sufficiently?" Riario asked. "This —" he gestured, "may suit for your practice, but surely you must have need of a house. A home."

Leo shrugged. "My needs are simple," he said. "Somewhere to work and study, to eat and sleep. This is sufficient. And not all of my patients can pay, but I'm happy to take goods in trade, or whatever they can afford. People should not die because they are poor."

That was clearly a deeply held belief that Riario had no desire to argue with, certainly not at this moment. "Still. If you ever need somewhere to stay —" he glanced up at the ceiling, "if the roof leaks, for example, we have plenty of rooms."

Leo clapped him on the shoulder. "Thank you. The roof is sound, but I will remember your kind offer."

It didn't escape Riario's attention that Leo didn't bother to lock the door and when he mentioned it, as he mounted his horse, Leo said a patient might need to wait inside for him to return, and that the more potent drugs and what few valuables he had were in a locked desk drawer.

Reckless and eager to believe the best of people; Riario found Leo increasingly charming.

When they parted after a delightful hour of riding, Riario took himself home and sat nursing a brandy and an increasingly detailed fantasy of having Leo apply himself whole-heartedly to tenderly taking care of the ailing count.

"I think you should move out of the sun," Lucrezia said, when she came outside to discuss dinner plans with him. "You look a little flushed. Maybe you should go and lie down."

Riario didn't even argue. He took himself to his room and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He held off on touching himself at first, hoping the fantasy would be enough.

Perhaps he ought to have Lucrezia summon Leo again. She'd suggested he was sick, and there was clearly something amiss with his mind, if not his body, to obsess over Leo this way.

Would it be so wrong to have Leo attend him again, even on false pretences? Deceit or not, they'd pay him, which was more than some of his patients would.

The notion was ridiculous. His own hands on his own body, exploring the flesh beneath his clothes, had to suffice.

"You're distracted of late," Lucrezia said over dinner that evening. "Are you sure you're quite well?"

It was as if she was trying to find him an excuse to demand Leo's professional skills once more and he both loved and hated her for it. Even if she was looking for reasons to bring Leo to their home for her own pleasure, she was, to Riario's surprise, paying him no small amount of attention. There was even genuine affection towards him in her tone of late, unless that too was the product of his fevered imagination.


	4. First Kiss

"You must do something!"

Riario bit back a retort. He couldn't deal with any business matters before breakfast, and hated domestic issues at any time of day. One of the reasons the servants liked Lucrezia more than anyone else, he'd discovered, was her habit of delegating any necessary chastisements to whoever was available.

"What could possibly be required of me that my dear cousin cannot handle for herself?" He sipped at his tea.

"Doctor da Vinci," Lucrezia said.

Riario almost choked, worked at swallowing the tea. "What of him?"

"There are the most terrible rumours," Lucrezia said, and she launched into a rambling tale of gossip and innuendo and second-hand information and unnecessary asides. Riario listened, unpicking the essential detail; last night, a man from Cheltenham who was passing through the area, had stopped at the local public house and heard about their beloved new doctor. He'd been quick to offer up salacious stories of the real reason Leo had left the spa town.

Leo had been caught making love to a young man, kissing him on the mouth while they were both shirtless, or so said the woman (jilted or jealous or both, in Riario's opinion) who reported his activities. Leo had left in disgrace, started a new life out here, away from the gossip — and now his past had caught up with him.

People were going to be outraged and demand Leo leave but he was the best physician they'd ever had, Lucrezia was insisting. The previous doctor had not been at all suitable. He would never have helped deliver a calf or cared about a harvest. Leo understood that this was not a city or large town and things were different, that he was part of a community who needed him in all the ways his city patients had, and in others besides. Leo had become popular because he did not care only about medicine and his social status .

This adoration was nothing Riario had not heard before, nothing he did not believe. Instead he focussed on the likelihood of the rumours being true. Leo had dallied with Lucrezia and Riario got the impression that Leo did find women attractive. On the other hand, there were moments Riario thought Leo had hinted at a desire for men; comments about certain books, particular phrases when skirting around gossip, that moment he said he preferred his lovers stubborn. Or perhaps that was wishful thinking, Riario's own inappropriate and unwanted feelings misleading him. He had never before felt love for a man, nothing even close. Not until Leo.

Did it make a difference, if the rumours were lies spread by a vindictive woman, or dark truths? The damage to Leo's reputation would be the same. Still, Riario couldn't help wonder that if it were the truth, if Leo did harbour feelings for men, then maybe, just maybe might he feel the same for Riario?

"Well?"

Riario blinked a few times. "What do you expect me to do?" Aside from fall into reveries about the physician. He didn't even like doctors and now he spent far too long dwelling on fantasies about treatment at Leo's hands.

Lucrezia shrugged, and turned her doe eyes on him, the look that worked so well on almost any man. "You must do something, Girolamo."

The way she purred his name was carefully calculated to make him ride to her rescue and do what she wanted. There was no need for persuasion. If there was any way to ride to Leo's rescue, Riario would do so.

"We can ignore the rumours," he suggested, but that wasn't going to be enough.

Still, Lucrezia leapt on the idea. "You must invite him to dinner," she said. "If a count will dine with him in this house, surely it proves that these are baseless rumours and that the doctor is beyond reproach."

Pour scorn on the stories, true or not, and hope for the best. It was not the worst idea. Riario took a little longer than necessary to finish his already belated breakfast before he prepared to face Leo.

x

Riario dismounted and headed towards the cottage, tugging off his leather gloves and stuffing them into one pocket. The door was ajar and he shouldered past into the tidy living room. The shutters were closed and Leo was there in the artificial twilight, sitting on his seat by the desk, head in hands.

Leo looked over as Riario burst in. Even in the dim light, Riario could see the distress, the traces of recent tears on his face.

"You heard then," Leo said dully.

Riario nodded. All the things he wanted to say, all the comforting phrases he'd planned on the way over here were gone. His brain and his mouth were not cooperating, stunned as he was by seeing Leo not defiant, as expected, but dejected, lost.

"I'm leaving, all right. I'm writing letters, making arrangements. You have to give me chance to pack."

"No," Riario said, which was the wrong thing to say, because he meant no, don't leave, not no, don't even pack. It was a mistake he realised as soon as the word left his lips.

"You want to throw me out on the streets this instant? You want to punish me?" Leo got to his feet, challenging Riario, spreading his arms wide to leave himself undefended. "You think I'm a vile sodomite? You've come to beat the devil out of me? You want to accuse me of taking perverted pleasure from my duties?"

His voice rose in pitch and volume as he went on, not giving Riario a chance to interrupt. "You think that I assault my patients? I don't, I am a professional, I separate my feelings from my work! I am never improper, I did not molest you when I attended you, no matter what you may think!"

Riario felt a twinge of shame at his own perversion in having enjoying Leo's attentions but he brushed it aside. This was not about him.

"Punch me if you must," Leo said bitterly.

"No!" Riario grabbed at the momentary silence. "Of course I am not here to hurt you."

"Farnese hit me," Leo said, gesturing to his cheek. A faint bruise marred his skin. "Rode over at dawn especially to do so."

Riario's eyes narrowed. He and Farnese would be having an exchange of opinions later. "Farnese is a fool."

That drew Leo's gaze and he gave Riario a questioning look. "Then why are you here?"

"Why" had become more complicated since he'd stepped inside.

"You cannot leave," Riario said. "Everyone agrees you are the best physician the valley has ever had."

Leo's lips quirked into a wry smile. "Even you?"

Riario nodded. "Even me," he said, advancing cautiously. "I came to invite you to dinner. You will dine with us and that will show that we put no stock in scandalous rumours. The people will follow our lead. You can stay."

Leo's face fell. "It might be scandalous, but it is true. I have attractions to men as well as to women."

There were many things Riario could have said or done, but all the pent up ardour, all the attraction Riario wanted, but was unable to deny, came flooding to the surface and, in a moment of madness he stepped forward, clasping the back of Leo's neck with one hand, pressing the other to his back, and kissing Leo full on the lips.

Leo yielded to Riario's touch, returning the kiss hungrily. When Riario let go, he stared into the hazel eyes, savouring a mild tingling sensation on his lips, the heat pooling in his belly.

Leo looked stunned and Riario's heart sank. He turned and fled, ignoring Leo's protests as he mounted his horse. He rode home with unnecessary speed, cheeks aflame, and then, remembering Farnese — and needing an outlet for the tumult of emotions — Riario spun around and headed off towards the Farnese farm.

x

"Will he come?" Lucrezia said by way of greeting when Riario returned, somewhat dishevelled and still furious.

"Who?"

"Leo. Doctor da Vinci. You were going to go and invite him to dinner," Lucrezia reminded him. She placed her hands on her hips. "Where have you been?"

Riario considered outright refusing to answer, or lying, but decided the truth would suffice. "To see Farnese. I may have given him a mild beating."

Lucrezia's mouth dropped open. It took her a moment to speak. "Why on earth —"

"Because he had already done the same to the good doctor," Riario hissed and his anger lessened when he saw Lucrezia's eyes narrow and her lips draw together. "If you want da Vinci to stay, then let the gossips wag their tongues about what happens to those who would hurt him."

Lucrezia put a hand on Riario's arm. "Is Leo all right?"

He nodded. "He is in better condition than Farnese, though I made sure to leave only wounds that will heal."

"So Leo will come to dinner?"

Riario turned his eyes heavenward. He was not going to explain to Lucrezia how he'd ruined her plans by impulsively kissing Leo. He had not got an answer and he was now going to have to return and apologise, and hope Leo was not so horrified by Riario's actions that he would decline the invitation.

"When I heard that Farnese had punched him, I went straight there without mention of dinner," Riario said, sticking to a close version of the truth. "I am afraid I let my anger get the better of me. I will return tomorrow and this time I shall issue the invitation and await his answer."

Hedging his bets in case Leo refused — and who could blame him — Riario added, "But you must not be disappointed if he will not. He was distraught, of course, and who knows if he will be recovered tomorrow. He may prefer to lay low. He may even wish to leave. We must respect his privacy and his decision." He swallowed his hypocrisy, having violated Leo's integrity mere hours earlier, and headed upstairs.

x

Lucrezia reminded Riario half a dozen times that morning that he had to go and beg Leo to attend dinner with them and finally he could put it off no longer. The journey was over too quickly and Riario dismounted and stared at the cottage for maybe five minutes, gathering his nerve.

At last, he smoothed down his coat and knocked on the door, determined to be a gentleman this time and not a lovesick fool.

Leo opened the door and his surprise gave way to a broad smile. "Come in."

Riario pondered the wisdom of that, but Leo had already gone back inside and he had little choice but to follow. Leo was sitting on his chair again, relaxed and happy in contrast to the previous day.

Riario paced the floor, refusing to meet Leo's gaze. "I came to apologise."

"Apologise?"

"My behaviour yesterday was unforgivable," Riario said, every word a knife in his heart. "I understand if you must refuse the dinner invitation, though I will beg you to reconsider."

Leo stood, placed a hand on Riario's shoulder, making him cease his movements. "There is nothing to forgive," he said softly. "I was taken aback because I had no idea that you had such feelings for any man, let alone me."

Riario swallowed hard. "I have never had feelings like that for any man before," he said. "I have not ever had such strong feelings as these for any woman, either."

It was one of the reasons he had not married.

Leo lifted both hands, clasped Riario's face. "Sometimes it is like that, or so I've been told. Feelings may develop rarely. Feelings for one sex over another can wax and wane. Someone may only care for women and then later find they care only for men, or more for men than women. For me, it is always been both sexes that I care for equally, and I love easily. Too easily, perhaps, and too shallowly, for none of my affairs of the heart have lasted long. And that has never concerned me, until now."

Riario gazed at him through half-lidded eyes, feeling safe and happy in Leo's grasp. "Then do you return my feelings?" If the answer was no, he would die on this very spot and no amount of Leo's medical skills would revive him.

Leo didn't respond with words, but with a kiss pressed to Riario's forehead. Riario relaxed and then Leo was kissing his mouth, and they were grappling with each other. Not wrestling, not hugging, but something new, something desperate and vital that was taking Riario's breath away.

They paused for a moment.

"Let me apologise," Leo said. "I assumed you had come to accuse me of inappropriateness. When word spread in Cheltenham there was a man who claimed I had violated him during the performance of my duties. Nothing could be further from the truth."

"I believe you," Riario said. "But I never thought that." He'd taken pleasure in Leo's touch though, and how depraved did that make him?

"You are a nobleman," Leo said, a hint of warning in his tone as he changed the subject. "And I am not."

"I'm hardly in a position to marry you even if you were a noble too," Riario retorted.

"Your reputation — "

"Damn my reputation," Riario hissed and sought Leo's mouth again. He rubbed against Leo, his erection hard against his thigh, Leo's own cock straining against his trousers.

The sound of hoofbeats dampened the mood as surely as a bucket of cold water. Riario pulled away, brushing at his hair and clothing in a panic. Leo picked up his coat, holding it folded over his forearms, and went to the door while Riario moved to lurk in the shadows at the door to the bedroom — the bed was clean and inviting, dammit, and it was all he could do not to thrust his hand into his trousers at the idea of lying down and awaiting Leo's return. Never had Riario's self-control been so tested. He listened to the mumbled conversation as best he could, attempting to distract himself.

A moment later Leo came back inside and tossed his coat aside. He grabbed a bottle from a drawer, and headed back outside. He soon returned, shutting the door behind him.

"Just someone needing a second dose of their tonic," Leo said. "You were right. I need a sign on the door for when I'm seeing patients."

That stirred Riario's desires again. "Am I your patient?"

"It would have been a reasonable fabrication," Leo said.

"We could tell them I am a little light-headed," Riario offered, but Leo did not rise to the bait. He tamped down his disappointment. Leo had made it clear he did not mix his profession with his pleasure, and that was right and proper. Yet Riario wanted so badly to have Leo's tender hands on his body once again. He wanted, even in pretence — especially in pretence, the better to truly enjoy the experience — to be at the physician's mercy.

"May I still come to dinner?" Leo asked, moving some paperwork on his desk. "I have to say, Farnese aside, everyone has been offering me their support. Some don't believe the gossip, but I think many are just choosing to ignore it."

"People are good at choosing to believe the truths that suit them best," Riario said. "Of course the offer still stands. Lucrezia and I would be delighted to have you." The moment was gone then. No more kissing today.

Leo smiled. "I can be there by six."

Riario rode home, resisting the urge to veer off the path and find a secluded spot in which to masturbate. His resolve held until he got home, where, after a brief conversation with Lucrezia to assure her that Leo would be attending dinner, he went to his room and locked the door.

x

Lucrezia smiled warmly at Leo when he arrived, ushering him to a seat on the veranda. She told him how glad she was to have him here and that no-one should be gossiping, and given how skilled a physician he was there ought to be more respect for him and his private affairs.

Riario sipped his aperitif, watching her prattle on. Leo seemed torn between enjoying the attention and wanting a change in the subject matter and at last he took pity on the doctor. "Lucrezia, darling. Did you check with cook about the parsnips?"

Lucrezia, who knew nothing about parsnips except that they were edible, but who was determined to appear the all knowing mistress of the house, immediately went inside to harangue the cook. Riario felt only a mild twinge of guilt, moving to Leo's side.

"She means well."

"I'm sure," Leo agreed, draining his own glass.

Riario gestured. "Shall we walk?"

It was blissful, strolling along the gravel paths with Leo. Riario had his hands clasped behind his back but Leo stroked his sleeve and Riario crooked his elbow, letting Leo take his arm. As they drew beneath the flowering vines and thick foliage of the wicker arbour it was tempting to kiss Leo once more. 

There was a bench up ahead, facing the ornamental fountain and Riario entertained thoughts of them sitting for a moment, enjoying the quiet, and the gentle spray of water as it was caught by the evening breeze. Of climbing onto Leo's lap, sitting astride him and thrusting his groin against Leo's, while Leo pressed kisses to Riario's neck.

"Girolamo?"

He blinked. "Forgive me. What were you saying?"

Leo gave him a grin. "I was just admiring the view."

Riario felt the view in this case was actually him and his pulse quickened. "May I ask you something?"

Leo nodded. "Of course."

They reached the bench and both sat. Leo leant back, relaxed. Riario sat on the edge of the bench, his body angled towards Leo, needing to see his face and his reaction to the subject about to be broached.

"You said that when you are working, you do not take pleasure in — in the seeing or touching of someone's body."

Leo regarded him coolly. "I thought you were not worried about that."

"No. No, but — " This was more difficult than he'd imagined. "Yet you do have attraction to people — to people who are or might be, or have been, your patients?"

Leo considered for a moment. "I see a body," he said, "but I don't notice it, if you understand, while I'm working. But when I'm not working, I may notice. I may _appreciate_."

"So you take no pleasure in your work?"

"In doing my job well, yes. But no, I would never take advantage of a patient. I touch them only as much as is required. I do not take pleasure in it." Leo sighed. "Girolamo, you kissed me first. Why does this concern you so much, whether or not I enjoyed attending you? Because the two things are not the same. I would happily see you naked under other circumstances."

That took Riario's breath away. He stared at the ground for a moment, gathering his thoughts, the only sound the trickling of the fountain.

"I'm curious," he said. "What if, for example, what if you were not enjoying it, but your patient was?"

He swallowed hard, forced himself to look at Leo again. Leo looked slightly surprised but not disgusted, as Riario had feared.

"Well," Leo said, choosing his words with care, "that is no fault of mine. So long as I was not causing harm or discomfort to them, they are free to not only tolerate but to enjoy my ministrations. After all, you cannot choose what excites you."

Riario licked at his lower lip, which caught Leo's eye. Riario noted that for future reference, something which excited Leo. Yet his own fantasies were the issue here. If he could bring himself to ask Leo to do those things to him again, would Leo agree or would he think it a compromise of his ethical stance?

He didn't get a chance to ask because Lucrezia came dashing under the arbour, slightly out of breath. Riario glared at her, Leo sat forward.

"There's a message for you," she said, "I told the butler I'd fetch you myself. The Sforza's gardener has badly cut his arm and they need you urgently."

Leo was on his feet in a moment. "Duty calls. I'm afraid you must accept my apologies," he said, bowing quickly to Riario and then Lucrezia. "Another time?"

"Of course," Lucrezia said. Riario moved to stand beside her and they both watched Leo dash off back towards the house. Damn!

Lucrezia gave him an appraising glance. "You look somewhat out of sorts. Come along, we'll get you another drink. It seems we shall have to eat dinner alone."

Another time he might have said that two of them and a houseful of servants wasn't alone, but he was not in any mood to argue. He let her take his arm and lead him inside, disappointed at Leo's absence, and fearing that he'd somehow gone both too far and not far enough in explaining his dark desires.


	5. The Count's Physician

"God willing I shall eat dinner this evening," Leo said, sitting on the same bench as before. "I apologise again for my absence yesterday."

"You had duties to attend to," Riario allowed.

Leo nodded. "It was your fault," he said playfully. "I took your advice. I have a board on my door now and I write on it with chalk to show if I am available, or with a patient, or that I'm out and where I've gone and when I expect to be back. So I can be summoned, if required. "

"That seems practical."

Leo smiled. "Last night I wrote that I was here and would not be back until late. Tonight I wrote the same again and here I am once more. So, where were we?"

Riario swallowed. "I was trying to explain my feelings."

"Yes. I recall. Would it help if I spoke first?" Leo cupped Riario's chin. "I have fallen in love with you more deeply than I thought possible. I – I have sketched you without your permission, unable to shake the image of you from my mind."

Riario felt his heart skip at knowing he had been given the same honour that his cousin had received. He would want to see the sketch later, but knowing at least one such drawing existed made him dizzy with delight.

"And I know there is a danger in this," Leo continued, "and I hesitate to risk your reputation. That I have found a place here, where my tarnished past is wilfully ignored, should be enough. Yet I am willing, if you are, to court you as surely as I would a woman."

Riario drew Leo's hand up over his mouth and pressed a kiss to the palm. Leo grinned. Riario tugged Leo's hand lower, held it over his heart. Surely Leo could feel the rapid beats. The knowledge aroused him. "Not as a woman," he said, voice hoarse with emotion. "We can never wed. There is, therefore, no reason we must wait to be together."

Leo's mouth opened and, just as Riario feared he'd gone too far, Leo nodded and leaned over to press his lips to Riario's forehead.

"We must be careful," Leo said and Riario nodded. "But I am unattached, beholden to no-one else, and I am free to give you my heart, if you'll have it, and my body, if you want it."

Riario squeezed at Leo's fingers. "I do. There is one more thing. You are a physician."

"And you despise having feelings for someone lacking a title?" Leo's tone was light however, teasing.

"No."

"You hate leeches, I recall."

Riario shook his head. "I fear it is the opposite. That your profession has become rather more alluring than repulsive to me. Or at least, you, as Doctor da Vinci —"

He broke off, hearing footsteps on the gravel. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth. Belatedly he released Leo's hand.

"Dinner is almost ready," Lucrezia announced and Riario gave her a glare that could curdle milk.

Leo favoured her with a wide smile. "Thank you. It was kind of you to invite me."

"You are always welcome," she said. "I do believe my cousin has grown quite fond of your company and no longer seeks to have you removed from the house."

Leo stood and took Lucrezia's arm but he glanced back and winked at Riario.

x

Riario forced himself to relax over dinner. The food was good, and Leo was personable company, witty and quick to laugh at his own expense. Lucrezia was on her best behaviour and so the meal was a pleasant experience.

Lucrezia played the piano after dinner, Riario sitting closer than necessary to Leo on the sofa. If only there was some way to have Leo remain in the house.

His prayers were answered when a storm blew in, a clap of thunder rattling the windows before a downpour began.

"That is a terrible storm. You must stay overnight," Lucrezia declared. "We cannot have our physician getting soaked through and falling ill! You must accept our hospitality or risk offending us as well as gambling with your health."

She looked to Riario for support he was quick to provide.

"I agree with my cousin. You must stay. I'm sure we can provide anything you need." Riario hadn't intended to stress "anything" but his subconscious had other ideas.

Leo accepted graciously and they drank brandy for a while, listening to the storm. Lucrezia went to her room, bidding them good night. Riario, aware of the servants completing their cleaning duties before they would retire, dared not broach too delicate a subject, so they talked more about literature and duty and horses until Leo stifled a yawn.

A servant was summoned and escorted Leo to the best guest room. Riario drank another glass of brandy and watched the rain for a while before he retired for the night.

Alone in his bedroom, Riario undressed, toying with the idea that had occurred to him as they'd sat talking. If it went badly, Leo might refuse to have anything to do with him ever again. If Leo was willing to join in, then Riario felt he'd found a soulmate.

He pulled a robe on to cover his nakedness and opened the door, lucky enough to catch one of the maids in the act of extinguishing the lights in the corridor.

"Please fetch Doctor da Vinci," he said. "I am feeling unwell."

She bobbed a curtsey and went on her errand. Riario shut the door and buried his face in his hand. It was too late to back out now. He had to choose. He could claim a headache, a safe lie to hide his depraved desire and let Leo dose him with laudanum. Or he could gamble on Leo being game and see if the good doctor responded with enthusiasm or with revulsion .

He threw off the robe and slid beneath the bedcovers. His heart was pounding enough that it might give genuine cause for concern.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Riario closed his eyes. Damn, damn, _damn_ how had he got into this situation?

Leo entered, shutting the door behind him. He was barefoot, and while his trousers were neat enough, his shirt looked to have been thrown on again hurriedly, crumpled and loose about his waist rather than neatly tucked in. "What is it? The maid said you were ill."

Riario swallowed, blinked a few times. "I fear it is a malady nothing can cure. Or, perhaps, only you can."

Leo's brow furrowed. "You need to tell me what's wrong."

"I am a little dizzy," Riario began. Leo crouched down at his side. "It only happens, however, when you are in the room."

Leo's expression shifted from concern to delight. "Is that so? Are there other symptoms?"

Riario stared at the ceiling. "I cannot sleep and it is tiring. I find myself unable to focus solely on daily tasks. My mind is frequently elsewhere."

"Hmm." Leo stroked his fingers across Riario's cheek before he pressed the back of his hand to Riario's forehead. "You are a little warm."

He lifted Riario's arm, pressed two fingers to his wrist. No doubt his pulse was racing. Riario was aroused and ashamed in equal quantities as Leo folded back the bed covers. Leo bent over and pressed his ear to Riario's chest. Riario imagined he could hear his own heart pounding against his ribs.

"There are many causes of anxiety and a number of symptoms," Leo said, the words clinical but his tone seductive. His fingers trailed down the centre of Riario's rib cage. "Breathlessness, for example."

"Yes," Riario said, and he honestly did feel short of breath.

Leo's fingers stroked the healed ribs, the unmarked flesh where bruises had once required his concern. Riario inhaled sharply. His arousal was drowning out his shame and Leo seemed to be enjoying this too.

"It's not entirely unpleasant though, to have these feelings?"

"On the contrary," Riario agreed, "it can be agreeable. It is most contradictory."

Leo nodded. "That rules out many possibilities. This is a sickness that is welcomed, even though it can decrease one's appetite and causes a fluttering in the stomach."

"Yes," Riario said and it was a plea for Leo to touch him.

"Close your eyes."

Riario did as he was told. There was only darkness and Leo's touch. Leo's fingers began to caress every inch of Riario's abdomen, massaging small circles from right to left, liver to spleen, then back again, working slowly downwards. It was heavenly.

Riario's breath caught as Leo's thumb dipped sharply into his navel. Leo made a soothing noise before he continued his exploration. His fingers were splayed now and they ran backwards and forwards, lower and lower, until they were over the bladder 

Riario was utterly vulnerable, completely at Leo's mercy. It was as delicious as he'd imagined it would be. It was all Riario could do to remain still, pressing his head back into the pillows as he tried to keep his hips from lifting. To his disappointment however, Leo's hands roamed no further down.

"Look at me," Leo said quietly and Riario reluctantly opened his eyes. Even in the semi-darkness, Riario could see the lust in Leo's own eyes.

Leo's tone was off-hand though when he said, "Body heat can sometimes alleviate the symptoms." He shrugged. "If you will permit it."

"Of course." Riario watched as Leo began to undress in a leisurely manner, the deliberately unhurried movements a source of mixed emotions for Riario. Frustration, apprehension, and arousal fought for dominance. Leo's shirt was discarded, the strong arms and muscular chest revealed in their entirety. Riario bit at his lower lip as the buttons of the trousers were undone one by one with unnecessary care. Leo wore no undergarments and he was unashamedly naked once the trousers were thrown aside. Not that he had anything to be ashamed of.

Leo climbed into the bed. He clasped Riario's face, his thumbs at the jawbone. "Pupils are dilated," he commented.

"Is that a good sign?"

"Indeed." Leo moved one hand behind Riario's head, placed the other flat just above his groin. "However I fear there is only one remedy."

"Yes?"

"The Breath Cure."

"I do not believe I've heard of it," Riario said.

"You trust me, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then relax," Leo urged. He added, "You will tell me at once if I cause you any discomfort."

Even during this pretence, even while he was seducing Riario, Leo was cautious and respectful of his feelings and Riario adored him the more for it. "Of course, doctor."

Leo smiled. He bent over, claiming Riario's lips.

When Riario could think once more and found Leo waiting for acknowledgment or instruction, he said, "I don't think it worked." As disappointment showed on Leo's face, he added, "I believe you need to try it again."

Leo kissed him again, harder, more urgently. He moved his hands to caress Riario's cheeks and jawbone. He pressed his lips in quick, light, kisses down Riario's throat and down his chest. A detour, to let his mouth close over one nipple, his teeth barely grazing the tender flesh, while his finger and thumb sought the other. Riario moved beneath him, let out a moan.

"I hope you are paying attention," Leo murmured, pausing to run his tongue along the centre of Riario's ribcage. "I may require such treatment myself."

"I learn as quickly as I heal," Riario said. He lifted one hand to place it on Leo's head, stroking the soft brown hair.

Leo's thumbs traced the edges of Riario's lower ribs. He kissed and nipped his way down Riario's torso. Riario's hips bucked when Leo's tongue dipped deeply into his navel.

Riario could feel his own arousal growing beneath the restraining blankets, and Leo's cock, hard, against his thigh. "Yes," he said, by way of encouragement.

"Are you sure?" Leo asked. He brushed his fingertips across Riario's lower belly, tantalisingly close to his groin once again. "Are you certain you wish to cross this line?"

"Yes," Riario said, grasping Leo's shoulders, digging his fingers into Leo's skin hard enough to leave a mark, trying to urge Leo lower. "Yes."

Leo moved down, almost disappearing beneath the covers, seeking Riario's cock with his tongue.

Riario bit down on his lip lest he disturb the household, but otherwise was given over to his passion.

Leo was more than a clever anatomist or a skilled physician. He was a connoisseur of the human form and an expert lover.

There was no going back, Riario knew that, appreciated that Leo had given him one final chance to refuse. He would not go back if he could. He had no idea how this could possibly be allowed to happen again, but he knew he would be bereft if denied the chance to experience it again. Wretched, if he could not claim Leo's body as the doctor had claimed Riario's. 

Heartbroken, if he could not find a way to have the physician in his life.

Afterwards, Leo slumbered next to him as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Riario dozed fitfully, waking frequently to assure himself that Leo was still there and being both relieved that he was, and terrified of being discovered in this situation.

Yet it was Leo who woke Riario early next morning, pressing kisses to his shoulder. "I'm going back to my room," he said. "You go down to breakfast first and I'll follow."

Riario treasured a final kiss to his forehead, heard Leo gathering up his clothes, and leaving the room. He allowed himself a few more minutes in the bed, savouring the memories of the night before.

x

Lucrezia was still at breakfast when Riario finally joined her, Leo following a minute later, as agreed.

"You slept late today," she commented, reaching for another roll.

"I didn't get much sleep last night," Riario said, relishing in the truth of the fact.

She nodded. "You look a little pale. Are you all right?"

Under the table, Leo placed one hand on Riario's knee. "I'll take care of him," he promised.

Riario stared at his plate, unable to meet Lucrezia's gaze.

"Well," Lucrezia said, wiping her hands on a napkin. "I think you will have to marry me, Doctor da Vinci."

That drew Riario's gaze and his ire, Leo's hand tightening on his knee.

"A count or even a countess is out of your reach," Lucrezia said, ignoring the anger and terror she was inspiring. "However a lady, such as myself is not. We would all live here, of course. My only requirement would be that I am free to visit any of my dear friends whenever I wish, without censure from my husband or my cousin."

Riario exchanged a look with Leo. Was Lucrezia truly proposing the perfect solution to all their problems? Well, save for any pressure on Riario to wed, and that was something they could deal with later.

"Cousin," Lucrezia said, and there was true affection in her tone. "I too, know desire when I see it. And I do know how to share."

She sat back and took up her teacup. "Unless you had some other plan in mind? Some sort of mysterious illness that requires a physician to be in constant attendance?"

"We hadn't thought that far ahead," Leo admitted.

She rolled her eyes at him, but Riario couldn't find it in himself to be angry with her. She'd seen what he and Leo had first danced around and then tried to hide. He'd underestimated her and he would not do so again.

"You will consider it?" Lucrezia sipped at her tea.

Leo nodded. "I shall. We will discuss it."

"I would expect you to be a caring husband, with appropriate loving gestures in public," Lucrezia said, getting to feet. "But I will not ask you for more than that."

She left the room. There was a silence filled with the weight of the situation.

"You care for her enough it could work," Riario said at last. "Though her other suggestion did hold merit."

Leo eyed him. "For me to be in constant attendance upon you?"

Riario nodded.

"I'm sure that no matter what we all decide," Leo said, "I shall always attend you."

One moment to check they were truly alone, the servants elsewhere, and then Riario leaned over and kissed Leo.

From this day forward, Leo would always be the count's physician.

**Author's Note:**

> This work was written for the unconventional courtship challenge (2016), using as inspiration [plot 26](https://unconventionalcourtship.dreamwidth.org/401.html) Lady Jane’s Physician by Anne Ashley.  
> There are no doubt inaccuracies in the fic, but I used sources including [Online Etymology Dictionary](http://etymonline.com/) and [Jane Austen's World](https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/) to try and avoid truly egregious historical errors.  
> Thank you to the Tumblr users who encouraged me when I got stuck mid-fic and despaired of finishing it :)  
> I have a promo post [at Tumblr](http://meridianrose.tumblr.com/post/145798190781/title-the-counts-physician-fandom-da-vincis); visit my DvD specific tumblr for more - [leonardo-artista](http://leonardo-artista.tumblr.com/)


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